1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the sale of commodities, such as products and services, and more particularly, to a system and method for assisting business customers in selecting products and services as well as optimizing the choices for those products and services.
2. Description of the Related Art
In current practice, the average customer has a difficult time sifting through the enormous number of options for commodities, such as products and services, in order to find the best selection. Moreover, the increasing number of vendors that sell similar products and/or services adds to the difficulty. For example, in one state alone, customers may face a choice between hundreds of vendors with thousands of different plans for telecommunication, power, and cable/satellite services.
As an additional complicating factor, many customers, especially business customers, may not really know exactly which products and services they need when starting a business or a new office.
As a result of these numerous options, customers face various challenges. First, customers lack perfect information and are unaware of available choices. Second, customers are barraged with cryptic information from vendors that is difficult to decipher. The perpetual flood of new options that are offered for the purpose of attracting new customers exacerbates this problem. Third, many customers do not make optimum choices of the deals offered by the various vendors because they do not understand the choices in general, the impact the choices may have, and the cost of the choices. Fourth, significant time investment is required for customers to find all of the information they need to compare offerings from different vendors. Usually, it takes more time and effort than the average customer wants to exert.
These problems are compounded in the case of business customers, especially small business and start-up business customers. Business customers generally require a greater number and variety of services than a consumer customer. Additionally, the person responsible for acquiring needed services for a small or start-up business may not know exactly which types of services will be required. For example, a small business customer might move into office space for the first time. This customer may need various types of phone, power, computer, network and Internet services that cover current requirements and any expected future growth. The business will have difficulty selecting which categories of service it requires, as well as selections within each category.
Many vendors rely on conducting their own internal research studies in order to better understand their potential target audience. The marketplace is changing so rapidly that it is difficult for vendors to keep pace. Vendors need to remain current with their customer base and anticipate new services and products based on the changing needs of the customer.
Several systems and methods have been developed over the years to solve the above problems, but these systems and methods have many disadvantages. For example, many merchants or third-party resellers have web sites that offer side-by-side comparisons of products and/or services. One disadvantage of such a web site is that the customers have to spend a significant amount of time determining what is best based on their own subjective assessment of the value associated with the various options. Another disadvantage is that these web sites do not provide any type of assistance in determining the types of products and services that are needed by a business customer, as in the case of a business start-up or customers without the necessary expertise.
Therefore, an integrated system and method are needed to assist customers in selecting the best value option from a set of commodities based on the customers' preferences, to assist vendors in acquiring and retaining customers, and to assist businesses without the required expertise in determining which product and service types they need to purchase.